Soothing hot water felt good sluicing over his sore muscles. He and Chrys had sparred every day for the last three days that the ship had been in port in Greece. The woman packed a wallop and gave as good as she got. If he’d had time, he would have rather soaked in the hot tub to loosen up the tense muscles and soothe the knots and bruises up and down his back. The woman had really worked him over. He’d taken it easy on her, but Rahn was sure there were a few choice spots where she could stand a soak.
He was soaping up when Chrys walked in. Neatly arranged on a set of hangers were his favorite suit and a shirt-tie combination that matched her dress. She headed straight to the closet and hung it up. On her way out, she stopped, did a double take then backed up five steps.
“Dayum! You look so yummy.” She slid her fingers over the glass, leaving trails across the steam-covered glass. “Too bad the Mastersens are meeting us for dinner, otherwise…”
The words hung in the air as those same fingers teased over the swell of her breasts, as her little pink tongue peeked at him from the corner of her mouth.
Heat crept up Rahn’s neck, and it wasn’t from the shower. When the woman touched herself like that, said things like that, he couldn’t help but feel…well, flattered. Nobody affected him like Chrys. No one could make him feel sexy, cherished and wanted like she did.
“Well, that’s all right,” she sighed dramatically. “I’ll get mine later. On top.”
His cock shot to attention.
She grinned and practically skipped from the bathroom. “See you in ten minutes.”
Damned tease. But she was his damned tease.
A few minutes later, he stepped out of the shower and stood for a moment, breathing in the thick humid air. Chrys had left the bathroom door open, but her scent lingered. It never ceased to amaze him what a simple whiff of the woman did to his nervous system. His poor cock should be crying out for mercy by now, rather than begging him to call her on her cell and tell her they were having dinner in bed.
Drying quickly, he ducked into the cedar-lined walk-in closet. A smile kicked up one side of his mouth when he saw the underwear and socks sitting perfectly folded on the shelf for him.
She was such a neat freak. Good thing she didn’t expect him to be one.
He’d just zipped up his pants when a faint rustle caught his attention. Chrys must have forgotten something.
Rahn walked out of the closet. His stocking feet touched the steam-dampened tile of the bath area when he met pain so intense, the breath froze in his throat. The muscles of his back seized and twitched. From behind, cold steel twisted and plunged deep into his body, separating his ribs to pierce the organs underneath.
And he knew he was a dead man.
* * * * *
With a smile at the light banter going on in her head, Chrys followed an immaculately clean waiter through the restaurant. Rice paper lanterns sent a gentle glow from the center of each large circular table. Japanese kanji symbols strategically placed along the walls and the rich red cinnabar ornaments here and there, gave a feeling of “rightness” to the atmosphere. She wasn’t really into Feng Shui, and doubted the decorators of this Japanese restaurant were either, considering the art was of Chinese origins. Either way, her spirit guides seemed to love the energy of the place.
Chrys settled down in her chair, sat back and allowed a sense of peace and relaxation to envelop her—something she hadn’t felt since she learned of the case Rahn was working.
The Mastersens were seated and already sipping on frozen, delicious-looking green cocktails. Several couples Chrys didn’t recognize were in the middle of ordering the same thing when Mrs. Mastersen spoke to her.
“Chrysalyn, dear,” Mrs. Matersen beamed. “I’m so glad you could join us for dinner. You must try one of these. It’s a Midori Sunrise and tastes like tropical paradise.”
Mrs. Mastersen was an all-out chatterbox. On the way back aboard ship on Ibiza, the woman had amused Chrys when she’d spotted the bag of specialty cigars she’d purchased. She’d introduced herself and her husband, then asked to try one without an ounce of shame. Gray-haired, feisty and carefree, the two were enjoying their retired years sailing around the world. Chrys had loved them on sight.
“Your dress is downright sexy, young lady. Now where is that delightfully handsome beau of yours? And he let you out looking like that? He’d better be careful or Harold here might put the moves on you. Mr. Mastersen was quite the rake in his day. Still has great skill…”
Chrys wondered if the woman had taken a single breath.
“And even after all these years, he still makes sure I come before he does.”
Chrys coughed on the iced water she’d been sipping. Way more information than she needed to know. Clearing her throat, a quiet giggle escaped between words.
“Thank you for the compliment on my dress, ma’am. As for Rahn, an earlier outing took a bit longer than he thought.”
Captain Laurens sat down at the head of the table and said, “That would be my fault, I’m afraid. Hope we didn’t put too much of a dent in your plans.”
Chrys smiled and said, “When I left, Rahn was getting ready. He sends his apologies and should be walking in the door any minute now. So, I think I’ll order his drink for him. Waiter?” Chrys called, and another smartly dressed young man headed her way. “I’d like a glass of your best chilled rice wine for my, er, friend. And I’ll have one of those green things, please.”
“Friend, eh?” Mrs. Mastersen gawked excitedly. “How fabulous for you, my dear. You’ve dated a while, have you?”
“We’ve worked together for more than six years and know each other well.” The rest of it was none of anyone’s business. Out of nowhere, the image of Rahn in the shower burst into her thoughts.
*I am sure my charge would blush if he knew what you were thinking just now. Can you think of nothing but his cock?” Mahpiya whispered to Chrys, her tongue lolling to the side.
‘Oh, hush up, you. You’re not supposed to tell all my secrets, and I can tell from the way the bond feels that Adonei is listening in.’
*Of course I am listening in. It is my job, is it not?* Adonei sniffed indignantly, then turned to Mah, fussing. *And do you have to speak so boldly regarding your charge’s private parts?*
Chrys almost laughed out loud. Didn’t he know by now not to set himself up like that? Before she could form a single smart-assed response, Mah was all over him.
*My dear Adonei, I believe you are in need of schooling, and given your old age,* Mah paused for dramatic effect, *you know I certainly do not have to use the word cock. I have been a spirit guide for eons. There are many other ways to express myself, mate.*
Chrys clamped her lips together, picked up her water and sipped, trying to hide the smile at the corner of her lips. Oh, boy, here it comes.
*I could have called it by some of the other words I have heard over the years, like bacon bazooka…*
*Bacon what?* Adonei queried, his brow pulled down in a confused frown.
*Do you not like that word? ‘Tis much better than cock, don’t you think? No? Perhaps pork sword?*
*What is it with you and pig meat?* Adonei groaned, clearly wishing he hadn’t said anything.
*Fine. No more pork. So what about tally whacker? Tickle-gizzard? Wanker? Tube steak?*
Chrys’ own eyebrows flew up at that last one. Tube steak? Eww. Adonei swiped a huge paw at Mah, but the lioness dodged it with a laugh and simply kept right on.
*Maypole? Meat whistle? Milk bone? Mr. Happy?*
Adonei rolled his eyes and grumbled something about the Great Spirit’s sense of humor and boneheaded mates.
Suddenly, the muscled body of the tawny-haired lioness stiffened. Alarm and no small amount of fear streaked down the bond and settled in the pit of Chrys’ stomach.
‘What? What is it?’ Chrys demanded, thinking the lions were upset because Eden was headed their way. The man walked right up to the captain, bowed low and managed, yet again, to i
nsinuate himself into their plans. But it wasn’t Eden. It was something else.
Mahpiya’s head swung from side to side as if she were looking for something. After a moment or two of soft, seeking roars, her shaken gaze turned inward to Chrys and Adonei. The lioness’s answer was laced with undisguised panic. Something Chrys never imagined to see or hear from the great huntress.
*My charge! He is gone! I cannot feel or hear him,* Mahpiya wailed even as Adonei tried to sooth his distraught mate with broad strokes of his tongue just behind her ear.
Chrys squirmed in her chair in a subdued version of the pee-pee dance. “Excuse me, you all. I need to take a trip to the powder room.” Glad no one questioned her, she grabbed her little clutch purse and scooted back from the table, keeping her movements slow and deliberate.
Out in the hallway, Chrys ducked past the entrance to the ladies’ room and hurried down the hall, speaking to her spirit guides. She tried to ease Mahpiya, who paced nervously at the forefront of her mind,
*It’ll be all right. Nothing short of death could take a charge from his spirit guide,* Adonei reminded them both.
*That’s what I am afraid of,* Mahpiya screeched.
Adonei nipped the skin just above her shoulder with a muted growl, steel grit behind every word. Mahpiya stilled, startled into a quiet contemplation.
*You will cease this negative talk of your charge. Speeding negative thoughts or energy his way will gain you nothing.Come with me, now,* he demanded with the quiet authority only an alpha could pull with one so great as Mahpiya.
Before Chrysalyn’s eyes, the air in front of her shimmered and blurred as the two big cats took on their corporeal forms. It was the first time Adonei had ever come to her in this form without being summoned. She didn’t hesitate.
‘Both of you go ahead of me. Find Rahn.’
Adonei turned to Mahpiya and said, *We hunt, my love.*
With a nod of her large regal head, Mahpiya agreed and let out a ground rumbling roar that would have frightened the stoutest heart. They turned and took off in opposite directions.
Walking as quickly as her high-heeled sandals would allow, Chrys moved quietly down the hallways and toward their apartment.
Moments later, Adonei pushed into her mind. What he reported made her strip off her shoes and tuck them under her arm. Her slender fingers dipped down into the front of her dress to retrieve her apartment key as she ran like the wind.
‘Oh, no, Rahn. Rahn, don’t you dare die, damn it,’ Chrys ordered along the bond with their spirit guides, knowing they would both send her thoughts and feelings along to Rahn the same way they sped his current state to her. He was there, but just barely hanging on to the edge of consciousness. But based on Mahpiya’s slight sighs of relief, it was more than there had been when she’d reached out to him mere moments ago.
Chrys burst through the front door, dropping her shoes and purse in the foyer. A quick stop in the kitchen for the first-aid kit, and she was off again, following Adonei’s specific directions through the apartment. She knew exactly where to find him—on the master bathroom floor, bare-chested in a pool of his own blood. The tile was so slick with it, she almost skidded as she sped over the threshold. Dropping to her knees, the first-aid kit landed next to his too-still body with a loud clank. The gash in his side bled profusely. Afraid to move him, but knowing she must, Chrys called to the spirit guides waiting to aid her.
*Adonei, lend me your strength,* she grunted, trying to roll Rahn over on her own.
The lion’s brute strength rushed into her muscles, filling them with supernatural might, heightening not only her own strength, but all of her senses as well. The scent of Rahn’s blood and freshly showered skin and hair filled her nose and mouth. The sound of his shallow, barely there breathing spilled over her and filled her with an urgency mixed with a strange dose of melancholy.
She pushed it away and focused on the task at hand.
Now able to easily maneuver the dead weight of Rahn’s densely muscled body, Chrys gently rolled him to one side and packed the wound with clean linen to staunch the flow of thick, hot, blood. His lids fluttered, but he didn’t make a sound.
‘Mahpiya, can you nudge him closer to consciousness?’
Chrys knew they had to pull him back to this side of the spiritual plane so he could call Mah. Rahn had to request her help. It was against the spiritual laws for a spirit guide to aid without being asked. They could not impose their will on their charges. But if they didn’t do something fast, Rahn would be lost to them. He’d die.
Leaning forward, speaking directly into his ear, Chrys pleaded for him to call to Mahpiya. To ask for her aid, even if he asked with his mind and not his mouth. Rahn’s eyes opened for a moment.
“Mah. Help. Please.” The words were barely a whisper, but she heard them all the same. The fear that had been riding her released the bands around her heart and allowed it to beat again. Mahpiya’s silent relieved response flooded the bond. Rahn would be all right.
Mahpiya disappeared all together from Chrys’ consciousness and she knew the lioness focused all her healing energies on Rahn. It was hard work mending flesh and replenishing blood, even for a spirit guide. But she’d saved his life once before. Now she would do it again.
But now Chrys was flat-out pissed off. Someone had done this to her mate. Someone had tried to take Rahn away from her.
Grabbing one of the thick bath sheets off the rack, Chrys covered up Rahn’s bloody body and left the bathroom. Not bothering to wipe the blood off her feet or remove her ruined dress, she flew for the nightstand across the huge bedroom. Almost as an afterthought, she spoke to Adonei.
‘Guard the apartment, will ya, boy?’
The moment the words left her lips, Adonei’s hackles rose. A deep menacing growl rumbled in his chest as his stance took on one of attack, gaze fixed on a point behind her. Chrys went still.
Unease snaked its way down her spine, and the nerves along the bottom of her stomach danced in time with Adonei’s growling. But she wasn’t afraid. The strength of her spirit guide still flowed like fire through her entire being. Whatever, whoever it was, bring it on.
She turned, ready to drop into a fighting stance if need be.
“Eden, what the hell are you doing in here?” she demanded. Unsure of his intentions, Chrys instinctively calculated the difference in their body weight and the moves required to take him down fast. He looked slightly crazed, but as soon as the expression appeared, it was gone again.
“Chrysalyn, your dress, what happened? You’re covered with blood.”
Now he appeared genuinely alarmed. Adonei wasn’t buying it, but her man needed help and she didn’t have time to deal with this right now. A faint groan caught her attention. Rahn. Heading toward the phone, she tossed the words over her shoulder in a rush.
“Rahn was attacked. He needs a doctor.”
“Really? Here?” he gasped. “Go to your friend. I’ll get the surgeon and call the local emergency.” And Eden was flipping open his cell phone on the way out the door.
Back in the bathroom, she held Rahn’s hand, stroked his beautiful fingers and ignored her tears as they splashed on the palm clasped gently in her own.
In mere minutes, Eden was back and the apartment became a hive of frenzied, but calm, activity as the ship’s surgeon came in and tried to extract her from Rahn’s side. Captain Laurens hauled her out of the bathroom, explaining how both her and Eden’s fast thinking had saved her mate. Rahn was placed on a stretcher, covered with blankets and gently lifted from the cold tiled floor. All the while, the ship’s doctors, along with the Grecian medics, marveled over the fact he was still alive.
Chapter Fourteen
The ship was delayed in Greece while a full investigation took place. Nothing. No leads, no suspects. A week and a half later, with the aid of both Mahpiya and Adonei, Rahn was good as new. And while Chrys was relieved, she was so ready to get off the damned ship.
Upon arrival in Alexandria, she
was up with the chickens and ready to head ashore. First stop, Qaitbay. Perfect starting point since Rahn was scheduled to meet a contact there anyway. And even better, since she couldn’t sit in on that meeting she’d get some much-needed time alone, even if only for an hour.
High up on the imposing limestone walls of the Citadel, the tang of the salty sea air tickled her nose as Chrys took in the beauty literally surrounding her. A crisp breeze off the water took the edge off the midday sun. She raised her face to the sky as it blew over her, ruffling her short curls and cooling her skin from neck to knees.
What a mystical, soul-stirring place. She’d always wanted to see the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza. Maybe even the monumental statues of Ramses the Great at Philae. But now that she stood on the banks of the Mediterranean, looking out over the crystal waters, Chrys couldn’t believe she’d never looked into coming to Alexandria before.
The sparkling isthmus caught the eye of Alexander the Great more than twenty-three hundred years ago. Founded in 332 B.C., the city still carried his name, though Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt who happened to be Greek, ruled her kingdom from here during the first century B.C.
Amazing was this fortress built by Sultan Qaitbay in the 1480s. Erected on the very foundation of the famed queen’s Lighthouse of Pharos, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. She wondered what Cleopatra looked like. Imagined the queen spending the night in her lover’s arms as they gazed out to the sea toward Rome together, planning, dreaming of a life together.
But Julius Caesar and Cleopatra’s love wasn’t enough to save them from their own stupidity or the ill wishes of others.
And now Chrys was here with her own warrior lover. A lover who’d recently been nearly gutted.
The same foreboding she’d experienced in Ibiza and the night Rahn was stabbed slithered over her skin. The possibilities tumbled end over end through her mind. True, the attack on Rahn didn’t fit the profile of the bad guy he was after. But what if the intrusion wasn’t random, like Rahn, Geri and the others speculated?
Eternally Bound: Paranormal Romance Boxed Set Page 29